Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Leiby Kletzky, 8 yo R.I.P Borough Park, Brooklyn NY

BROOKLYN (WABC) -- Authorities say 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky was a victim of a random act of violence, murdered and dismembered after he apparently got lost and asked for help.

Police arrested Levi Aron, who turned 35 on Wednesday, at 2:40 a.m. at his residence on East 2nd Street in the Kensington section of Brooklyn.

The arrest came hours after a New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services Missing Child Alert had been issued for 8-year-old Leiby Kleztky.

Kleztky left the Boyan Day Camp at 1205 44th Street Monday evening, but never showed up to meet his mother three blocks away inBorough Park.Kelly said the boy's parents had taken him through the route the day before, and he was to walk the seven blocks from the camp to meet his mother. He left at about 5:05 p.m., got lost and asked the wrong man for help. The surveillance video released by police shows Kleztky walking behind a man near a gold vehicle on 18th Avenue between 45th Street and 46th Street. The video shows the same man entering a dentist's office nearby just 10 minutes earlier. Detectives located one of the dentists who worked there and established that the suspect had been in the office on Monday to pay a bill. Officials said with the assistance of a receptionist and another dentist associated with the practice, detectives found records at the dentists' office that established the suspect's name and address. He was apprehended 40 minutes later. Kelly said he lives alone in an attic apartment, in a building occupied by his parents and other family. He has lived there since returning from Memphis, Tennessee two years ago. Kelly said investigators found blood on Aron's refrigerator. Sources told the Associated Press, detectives opened it to discover bloody knives, a cutting board and feet inside. Officials said Aron told investigators to go to the dumpster, on 20th Street off Fourth Avenue in Greenwood Heights. Police found the dumpster's lid open and a suitcase inside that contained portions of the boy's dismembered body. "It was a very brutal murder," Assemblyman Dov Hikind said. "We're all very, very sad. This is the worst possible conclusion imaginable."CLICK HERE TO SEE THE STORY IN PICTURES

Police said it does not appear that Levi had any previous contact with Kletzky or his family.

"It appears to be totally random," Kelly said. On Tuesday night, thousands of neighbors, investigators and detectives helped Leibby's parents search for him. Kelly said Aron panicked when he saw the extent of the search and killed the boy. Aron has no major criminal record. He received one criminal summons, for urinating in public last year. He is employed as a clerk at a maintenance supply company in Brooklyn. Except for his time in Memphis, he was employed there approximately 12 years. Aron grew up, lived and worked in this Orthodox Jewish Community. His co-workers and friends say Aron was quiet, even a bit off. While in Memphis, he was married and divorced. His ex wife filed for an order of protection against him, which he went to court to have dismissed. Shimeon Kaplan grew up with Aron, has known him for 25 years. He says the past five or 6 years have been very stressful for the 35 year old. He said the death of Aron's mother was traumatic, but it's a long way from the loss of a parent to a vicious murder. "He should get help. He should get lots of help," Kaplan said. There is a very deep sadness in Borough Park. It is felt by the children who were friends of this little boy and parents who are finding it difficult to understand and explain what has happened. "He prayed in the same synagogue as I pray in. So I saw him every day and he was like my son," Sholem Kushner said. So many in this community spent countless hours searching building after building, street after street in the hopes of finding the little boy only to learn the worst news possible. Hindy Ackerman is stunned by the horrific nature of this crime. "This is the first, and hopefully the last time ever. We really don't know how to deal with it. There is no way to deal with this," Ackerman said. At Yeshiva Boyan, where Leiby attended day camp, his fellow students were returning hand in hand with their parents. Inside, they were able to talk about what has happened with grief counselors. A funeral for Kleztky will be held on Wednesday night at 8:30 after the body is released from the medical examiner's officer. An autopsy proved inconclusive in determining how the boy was killed, but further tests are pending. The funeral procession will begin at 56th street between 16th and 17th avenues. The service is expected to be 20-30 minutes long. Around 9 p.m. the casket will be walked up 56th, turn left onto 15th Street, pass Leiby's house at 44th, and then be taken to his final resting place in a hearse. Adel Erps, who lives two blocks from the family, said she was very upset because the state of the body means it will be more difficult to do a proper burial. Like other neighborhood residents congregating near the boy's home Wednesday, she expressed shock that the suspect was Jewish. "He's a sick person obviously, but it hurts so much more," she said.CLICK TO WATCH THE FULL NEWS CONFERENCE WITH POLICE COMMISSIONER RAY KELLY